Family is safe after huge tree hits house

Will Doran | The Sanford Herald
Tree service workers tackle a large tree after it smashed through the roof of the house of James and Geanette Turner, in the 1800 block of Spring Lane, during a thunderstorm Tuesday afternoon.

SANFORD —

No one was hurt Tuesday afternoon when a massive tree crashed into an occupied home on Spring Lane.

Geanette and James Turner, who rent the home, said they were both at work when the tree came down in strong winds a little after 3 p.m., but their 14-year-old daughter Oteasha was at home, in the living room — the same room the tree fell on top of. The girl ran to a neighbor's house and called her mom, and both her parents immediately bolted home.

Geanette said her manager at Dollar Tree let her leave without hesitating at all. She didn't have a car at work, though, so a customer offered to drive her home. Between that act of kindness and the fact that her daughter and the family's pitbull were both unharmed, she said, a higher power must be looking after the family.

"We're not lucky," Geanette said. "We're blessed."

James, who had to come all the way from Harnett County, where he was mowing grass, said he's proud of his girl because he would've been frightened to death if he had been at home when the tree hit, landing right next to his bedroom.

"I would've fallen straight back, I'd have been so scared," he said.

Added Geanette: "I would've had to change my pants."

But they're all just glad their family is still together and unhurt, and in the meantime, they said, the local Red Cross will put them up in a nearby hotel until they find another place — since they said there's no way they're moving back to the house even if it does get fixed quickly, with several large trees still in the yard posing more potential danger.